4 ms·

I remember using Toneloc during that time to wardial entire exchanges looking for dialup modems into servers. I wonder how many people I annoyed with getting ph

I remember using Toneloc during that time to wardial entire exchanges looking for dialup modems into servers. I wonder how many people I annoyed with getting phone calls in the middle of the night with my 14.4 modem screeching in their ear.

clamprecht 12y ago
ToneLoc author here (mthreat), checking in, 20 years after the release of the last version. I didn't manage to avoid the federal prison part, but somehow ended up fine in the end. My path, roughly: BBSes -> saw WarGames -> wannabe hacker -> warez boards (Public Enemy) -> cracking games (learned x86 asm) -> hacking voicemail boxes -> wrote ToneLoc (learned C) -> real hacking -> COSMOS access -> physical hacking (burglary of Southwestern Bell, learned lock picking) -> federal prison -> back to college -> startups -> ... I wouldn't change any of it now.
- mmaunder 12y ago
  Heavy. Now that's a journey. I remember ToneLoc and I may have used it - although we envied you Americans at the time because local calls were not free for us.
- makerops 12y ago
  I can't believe the author of ToneLoc posts here. This blows my mind! Brings up a lot of memories of great times, hanging out at the st. louis galleria food court for 2600 meetings.
  - clamprecht 12y ago
    I've even been banned here on HN :)
    - mmaunder 12y ago
      mthreat verified.
- georgemcbay 12y ago
  Similar journey here but without the burglary or prison. BBSes (300 baud modem on a C64 hooked up to an old 13 inch TV) -> warez -> learned 6510/6502 assembly and started cracking -> hacking/wardialing as a means to get access to computers where I could do C programming with 'real' C compilers -> found my way onto the Internet/ARPAnet in the mid-80s -> moved to Amiga (continued cracking on 68k) a reasonably 'real' computer with DICE C (Thanks Matt Dillon!), etc -> software developer. Got away from the illegal "hacking" when it started becoming a serious thing with serious consequences and I was no longer a minor, and out of the cracking/piracy thing when I was earning good money and could afford to buy things. There are a few people on HN with similar stories that I know of from back in the +hack/#hack/#Amiga! irc days (my handles there varied but were often some variant of my name: gfm, geo, etc).
  - mmaunder 12y ago
    Amiga. Respect! There was a time when it was clear that Amiga was going to win. And then it didn't. I hung out on #phreak as pHaze.
- iguana 12y ago
  ToneLoc and BlueBeep were my introductions to computing. Thank you!
- sweis 12y ago
  This is great to see. I remember ToneLoc when it came out. Looking back, it was still the wild west. I remember finding dial-ins that had no logins at all and just dumped you to a shell.
- randomflavor 12y ago
  I used your software many a times... and similar trajectory. so fun. should all meet in nyc at the citicorp (old 2600 meeting spot) one day.... and start a startup together.

clamprecht 12y ago

ToneLoc author here (mthreat), checking in, 20 years after the release of the last version. I didn't manage to avoid the federal prison part, but somehow ended up fine in the end. My path, roughly: BBSes -> saw WarGames -> wannabe hacker -> warez boards (Public Enemy) -> cracking games (learned x86 asm) -> hacking voicemail boxes -> wrote ToneLoc (learned C) -> real hacking -> COSMOS access -> physical hacking (burglary of Southwestern Bell, learned lock picking) -> federal prison -> back to college -> startups -> ... I wouldn't change any of it now.

mmaunder 12y ago
Heavy. Now that's a journey. I remember ToneLoc and I may have used it - although we envied you Americans at the time because local calls were not free for us.
makerops 12y ago
I can't believe the author of ToneLoc posts here. This blows my mind! Brings up a lot of memories of great times, hanging out at the st. louis galleria food court for 2600 meetings.
- clamprecht 12y ago
  I've even been banned here on HN :)
  - mmaunder 12y ago
    mthreat verified.
georgemcbay 12y ago
Similar journey here but without the burglary or prison. BBSes (300 baud modem on a C64 hooked up to an old 13 inch TV) -> warez -> learned 6510/6502 assembly and started cracking -> hacking/wardialing as a means to get access to computers where I could do C programming with 'real' C compilers -> found my way onto the Internet/ARPAnet in the mid-80s -> moved to Amiga (continued cracking on 68k) a reasonably 'real' computer with DICE C (Thanks Matt Dillon!), etc -> software developer. Got away from the illegal "hacking" when it started becoming a serious thing with serious consequences and I was no longer a minor, and out of the cracking/piracy thing when I was earning good money and could afford to buy things. There are a few people on HN with similar stories that I know of from back in the +hack/#hack/#Amiga! irc days (my handles there varied but were often some variant of my name: gfm, geo, etc).
- mmaunder 12y ago
  Amiga. Respect! There was a time when it was clear that Amiga was going to win. And then it didn't. I hung out on #phreak as pHaze.
iguana 12y ago
ToneLoc and BlueBeep were my introductions to computing. Thank you!
sweis 12y ago
This is great to see. I remember ToneLoc when it came out. Looking back, it was still the wild west. I remember finding dial-ins that had no logins at all and just dumped you to a shell.
randomflavor 12y ago
I used your software many a times... and similar trajectory. so fun. should all meet in nyc at the citicorp (old 2600 meeting spot) one day.... and start a startup together.